


Facing the Monster Together

by ianmilkoviched



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M, Mentions of Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-20 17:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1519145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ianmilkoviched/pseuds/ianmilkoviched
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mandy was still a little girl, Mickey was always the one she ran to for protection. Whether he was helping her sleep through the loud screams that shook the walls as their parents fought, trying to distract her from the eerie silence that always followed, or simply chasing away the monster that loomed under her bed. Mickey was always there.</p>
<p>And now when Mickey is signing up to face a whole other monster, Mandy won't let him do it alone this time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Facing the Monster Together

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work of fan fiction, as well as the first time writing for any of these characters, so I'm terribly sorry if this is too OOC. Any comments or constructive criticism are extremely welcome. :)

Mandy was five when she stopped going to her father whenever something scared her. It was a hard lesson to learn, and it took several instances of Terry shoving away his crying toddler before she finally realized he didn't want her to cling onto his leg or bury her face in his chest when she got scared. Terry never would be like the dads on TV, or the knight in shining armor that'd fight off everything that scared her. But Mickey would be.

It wasn't long after she gave up on Terry when one night she walked sobbing into Mickey's room. She almost went into her parents', but fear got the better of her and instead she went to the next closest room. Mickey was seven at the time and not too happy about the disruption, but the minute he saw Mandy's tear brimmed eyes something changed in him. To Mandy's surprise he let her stay with him that night. She still remembers falling asleep on his lap while he whispered "You're safe now, you're safe now", in her ear as he rubbed her back. It was everything she wanted Terry to be like, and maybe even more. Every time after that it would be Mickey Mandy went to. Whenever the monster under her bed began acting up, it'd be Mickey she'd grab to chase him away. When Terry and her mother's screams would rattle the walls, it'd be Mickey who'd calm her to sleep. And once the fight was over and the deadly silence followed that only meant one thing, it was Mickey who told her stories about dragons, and the knights who slayed them. One time when Mandy was particularly brave she suggested how Mickey was her knight, Mickey just snorted a laugh and mentioned how if anything he was a dragon because "dragons are way cooler". Coolness aside, Mandy still thought her brother pretty brave.

As they grew older and Mick began hanging out with their brothers more and more, the two of them began to slowly grow apart. Not that they still weren't close, it was still Mickey Mandy went to for revenge on a particular redhead, but they did stop telling each other everything. And overtime it was Ian she'd view as her knight, who'd help her through one of the hardest things that life ever sent her way. She never did tell Mick about what Terry did, she figured in that sense she was the one protecting him for once.

But now as she looked worriedly at her brother, his voice shaking as he screamed "He's staying with me", she realized Mickey is still the same boy that protected her from the monsters all those years age. But now it's not some invisible shadow monster he's fighting, this one is very real, and there's no way he's doing it alone this time.

"Mickey..." She looked over at her brother as the rest of the Gallagher clan left. His hand was shaking around his beer bottle as he quickly wiped away his bloodshot eyes with the heel of his other palm. This was the first time she'd seen him even close to crying since their mother died, though even then she never really saw it, only heard it behind a closed door. Terry drilled into their heads that crying was weak from a fairly early age, and Milkoviches were anything but weak.

But here Mickey was, crying in their kitchen and over a boy no less, but Mandy thought him anything but weak.

"Mick..." She walked over to him this time, his eyes only briefly meeting her's before falling back to the floor. He sniffed his nose rather loudly before taking a swig of his beer. She wasn't sure if he was trying to hide his emotions from her, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it if he was.

"He's staying here." Mickey muttered, his eyes now glued to the counter straight ahead of him. She didn't know how she could have ever thought that her brother didn't care for Ian. In her defense Mickey had put up a pretty good front to it all, but now his usual hardened facade was crumbling right before her very eyes.

"I know." Her voice was soft, much how she remembers her mother's used to be before the drugs became more important than her children. "We can take care of him- you and me." Mickey looked over to her then, she gave him a weak smile and saw something akin to relief flash over his features. To be honest she wasn't sure if they could do this by themselves, but damned if she wasn't going to try. This was Ian and Mickey that was in trouble, and there was no way in hell she was going to give up on either of them.

"Mick, what Fiona said..." Mandy started, "We should start hiding-"

Mickey cut her off before she could finish. "I know." His voice was dry and gravely, almost like it pained him to speak.

"I'll go find a box or something. I think Dad has some in the closet he uses during his runs." Pushing herself off the counter, Mandy headed towards the hall closet. After a couple minutes of rummaging she finally found a box not so torn it'd fall apart under any kind of weight. 

Mickey was already going through the utensil drawers by the time she got back, a small pile of butcher knives slowing growing on the counter. She never noticed just how many they had for one family, remembering back to the Gallagher's they had two if even that. Of course they were Milkoviches, it would be odd for them not to have a bizarrely large arsenal of butcher knives. 

Mandy went to work loading up the knives as Mickey continued looking in ever cupboard they had for anything sharp enough to through cut skin. It was so strange to have to think this way, to have to figure out what Ian could possibly use to hurt himself with. This was her Ian, the one who always seemed to cheer her up when no one else could, the one who could always find the good in everyone, even some thug of a street rat no one else but her loved.  She wasn't sure if he noticed but every now and then she'd look over towards Mickey, just to see how he was doing. He was as quiet as she'd ever seen him, his face set in a grim yet determined expression. He was probably thinking through the same things as her no doubt. 

"We should put a padlock on this." Mandy whipped her head around at the sound of her brother's voice. He was looking at the gun cabinet, his thumb wiping over his lip. The image of Ian shooting himself in the head with one of her father's guns instantly flashed through her mind. She never felt such a strong urge to throw up. 

"Yeah..." she replied softly, "I think I might have one in my room. It'd be in the top shelf of my dresser. Under my socks!" She had to shout the last bit out as her brother quickly left the kitchen, making a b-line for her bedroom. She nicked the padlock ages ago to keep her brothers out of her barbie doll chest. For whatever reason whenever Joey or Iggy wanted to blow shit up her dolls were always the first on the list. 

After a couple minutes Mickey reappeared, a grimace forming on his face as he turned the lock over in his hands. "These heart stickers?" He held up the offending object, causing Mandy to giggle softly. 

"Maybe..." A playful smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth before she turned back around to the task at hand. 

"Girls." Mickey shook his head as he locked up the cabinet.

"Hey, I needed it to match my doll chest." Mandy shrugged her shoulders, her smirk turning into a wide grin. Mickey rolled his eyes before lightly kicking her in the butt. Mandy tried to return the favor but he was too quick and grabbed her foot in midair. 

"Hey!" She cried through bursts of laughter, she tried to pull her foot free but the harder she fought the harder Mickey's grip became. "I'll spit on you!" She threatened, making a deep sucking nose in her throat as if she was getting ready to spit a loogie on him. Mickey quickly dropped her foot at the sound before stepping away, trying to hide the smile that was slowly coming to the surface. 

"You're fuckin' grosser than Joey, man." Mandy smiled triumphantly at that. If you wanted to survive in a house full of gross brothers, then you had to be a little gross yourself. 

After the loogie debacle, the two of them settled back down to the task at hand. Not as stern as they were before, but not exactly happy either. Every now and then they'd bump shoulders intentionally or make a face at the other, but nothing on the ground that'd cause hysteric laughter. If someone had walked in on the scene they'd probably thought the two were simply cleaning, not trying to prevent a loved one from inflicting harm on themselves. 

About an hour into the mass sweep through of the house, the two had gone through every room besides Mickey's and the adjoining bathroom. There was never a spoken agreement on holding those rooms for last, but both Mandy and Mickey seemed to avoid them like the plague. 

"I think my room is the only one left- well that and the bathroom." Mickey finally said as the two finished confiscating all of Iggy's ninja stars. Mandy looked up at him, slightly glad he was the one to bring it up first. She didn't mind doing it, but she wasn't sure how ready Mickey was for it. 

Mandy followed Mickey into his room, part of her hoping the moment he opened the door Ian would be out of bed, smiling and back to normal as if this were all some bizarre dream. Mickey must have been wishing the same thing too, or at least she thought so, because his shoulders seemed to slump the moment he opened the door. 

For a moment all either of them did was stand there, just staring at Ian's bare back, a sullen expression set on each of their faces. They were both signing up to deal with something that neither knew fully about, all Mandy knew of the illness was what Ian had told her. Based on Mickey's reaction, she had a feeling Ian either hadn't told him or simply left that part out of the story. Either way she just hoped Ian wouldn't end up like his mother. He wouldn't though, she told herself, her and Mick were going to make sure of that. 

Looking over to her brother, Mandy could tell he wasn't as sure as she was. Taking his hand in her's she gave it a tight squeeze, as a weak smile spread across her face. "He'll be okay."

Because he would be. Ian had two Milkoviches on his side, and there was no monster no matter how big or "impossible" that could beat them down.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew! Hopefully that wasn't too cheesy or anything. I have a deep love for the Milkovich siblings so I couldn't not showcase them in my first fan fiction. Thank you for reading, hopefully it didn't suck too much!


End file.
